The stories appearing in this publication were written by our students at Miami University, who enrolled in a seminar held jointly between two classes: James Tobin’s “Stories of the Past” (JRN 350) and Andrew Offenburger’s “History as a Story” (HST 450/550). After discussing several historical page-turners, and researching and writing their own pieces of narrative nonfiction, a select number of participants then took an intensive writing workshop we convened in January 2023 as a “Humanities Lab,” supported by the Miami University Humanities Center. We are proud to share the results of these efforts — “Midwest Mayhem” — and we thank our students for their dedication to intense historical research and to fine writing. —  JT & AO